May 01, 2009

Hell hath no fury like a spokeswoman scorned. Snapple first let Wendy "The Snapple Lady" Kaufman go as its spokeswoman in 1994. And though the brand (under new ownership) brought her back in ads a decade later, Kaufman still harbors sour feelings about Snapple. In a live chat on AdweekMedia Connect this week, Kaufman unloaded on new owner Dr Pepper Snapple. "The people who run it now ... they are morons, and they do not care about this brand and its history," she said. "I love Snapple ... just not the people ... and the memory of Snapple ... it's weird, I know." Kaufman went on to dis the brand's post-1994 ads, saying, "I never thought they did a great campaign after mine." Kaufman split with Dr Pepper Snapple last May over a contract dispute and said she rebuffed four unnamed beverage companies who asked her to be their spokeswoman. (She said the companies were "smaller brands ... wanting to get on the map for a quick hit.") Kaufman's feelings are understandable, I suppose, but Snapple was probably right to cut ties with a brand icon who is so closely associated with the 1990s. An amNY report about Snapple's recent New York-based pizza-slice giveaway underscored the point. The story began: "Wow, it's just like 1994: Two slices and a Snapple please."

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Wendy Kaufman, the Snapple Lady, tees off on her ex-employer

Hell hath no fury like a spokeswoman scorned. Snapple first let Wendy "The Snapple Lady" Kaufman go as its spokeswoman in 1994. And though the brand (under new ownership) brought her back in ads a decade later, Kaufman still harbors sour feelings about Snapple. In a live chat on AdweekMedia Connect this week, Kaufman unloaded on new owner Dr Pepper Snapple. "The people who run it now ... they are morons, and they do not care about this brand and its history," she said. "I love Snapple ... just not the people ... and the memory of Snapple ... it's weird, I know." Kaufman went on to dis the brand's post-1994 ads, saying, "I never thought they did a great campaign after mine." Kaufman split with Dr Pepper Snapple last May over a contract dispute and said she rebuffed four unnamed beverage companies who asked her to be their spokeswoman. (She said the companies were "smaller brands ... wanting to get on the map for a quick hit.") Kaufman's feelings are understandable, I suppose, but Snapple was probably right to cut ties with a brand icon who is so closely associated with the 1990s. An amNY report about Snapple's recent New York-based pizza-slice giveaway underscored the point. The story began: "Wow, it's just like 1994: Two slices and a Snapple please."